Monday, August 22, 2016

Rebecca on GoodReads gives it 5 stars and says: "Super cute! Quite funny and fast paced short graphic novel for kids. Love the graphics as well!"

Star on GoodReads also gives it 5 stars and writes: "There is a lot of adventure and history. Kids will have a lot of fun reading this and rooting for Oliver, Mya, and Jorge to outsmart the evil Octavian. The illustrations are great!"

And on Amazon, Country Girl Bookaholic says in her review: "I could totally see this book being a hit with kids that love adventure books, and plus it teaches a history lesson that might make them want to go find out more about that time in history! Even though I'm an adult reading this book series, I can't wait to see what happens in the next book in this fantastic series! Thank you to Mitch Krpata for writing the second book in this excellent series!"

Have you read The Lost Expedition yet? If you loved it and are able to review it online at GoodReads, Amazon, or even on your own blog, we'd be so happy! Bloggers, tell us about your review by tagging us on social media and we'll repost your review!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Happy Friday, everyone! Did you see we debuted some awesome FREE cards in the Poptropica store? They're straight from our new book, Poptropica: The Lost Expedition (which stars your Mystery of the Map heroes, Oliver, Mya, and Jorge) and they're super fun!

What's the Secret Society Trooper all about? Why would a stun baton help you? And what's the Amazonian Woman doing in Poptropica? Find out all this and more in The Lost Expedition!

Get your Lost Expedition costumes, accessories, and powers in the Poptropica Store while they last!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Today's the day, everyone! Our latest book, Poptropica: The Lost Expedition -- sequel to Poptropica: Mystery of the Map -- is now available everywhere you can buy books! Find out how you can get your copy here!

To celebrate this super special occasion I asked the author of the book, Mitch Krpata, if he'd mind doing a little interview for this here awesome blog. And being the all-around nice guy he is, he said yes.

So without further ado... meet the very talented, very funny Mitch Krpata!

So, Mitch. Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm married and have two young kids and a dog. I like to watch movies, read books, play board games, and sleep late. Anything that doesn't require me to leave the house.

How long have you been working on Poptropica? What do you do exactly?

I have been working on Poptropica from the beginning. I was part of the team that met every week in a windowless conference room to brainstorm ideas, and also helped to lay out Early Poptropica. My main job has been to write the island scripts, but I also help with marketing and promotion, licensed products (like the books and Ubisoft games), making our YouTube walkthroughs... I'm also a real cut-up on Slack. (Editor's note: He certainly is. His gifs are epic.)

Tell us something random about yourself that Poptropica fans would find funny or surprising.

I love professional wrestling. One day I will convince the powers that be to let me make a Lucha Libre Island.

What are your top three favorite Poptropica Islands? Why?

Red Dragon Island is a favorite because it was the first one that I worked on from beginning to end and really felt a sense of ownership. Plus, you know, ninjas.

I love PoptropiCon because it's Poptropica at our best: It's funny, exciting, and scary. It has great characters and varied gameplay.

Lunar Colony is also up there because the ending makes me emotional.

Favorite Poptropica villain? Why?

Myron Van Buren was the most fun to write, because he was so dignified and proper yet also a complete psychopath. I would not want to be invited to dinner at his place.

You can only have one ice cream flavor for the rest of your life. What would it be?

Vanilla. Because you didn't say anything about how many toppings I could have, and vanilla goes with everything!

So, tell us a little about Poptropica: The Lost Expedition.

The Lost Expedition is about what happens to the kids once they leave the Viking island that featured so prominently in the first book. There's a lot more island-hopping this time, and more supporting characters. But Octavian isn't the only one after the kids anymore, and they soon realize that Poptropica isn't all -- pardon the pun -- fun and games!

Can you give us some hints about books 3 and 4?

Book 3 will finally start to answer some of the many, many questions that have come up in the first two books. It's also action-packed! Can't say much about book 4 just yet...

Mya and Oliver battle it out in a game of Poptropica hoops. Who wins?

Mya would win because she's cooler under pressure.

Oliver and Jorge battle it out in a game of Poptropica soup words. Who wins?

Oliver would win because he's a total bookworm. Jorge would probably look for swear words, which aren't allowed.

If you could only pick one, who would you want to partner up with to explore a new Poptropica Island: Mya, Oliver, or Jorge? Why?

This is really tough! I've come to love all three of these characters. I'd have to say Jorge, because when the going gets tough, he's always able to break the tension with a joke.

***

Is Mitch the coolest or what? Everyone at Poptropica loves working with him and I bet you can see why!

And if you need your fix of Mya, Oliver, Jorge, and Octavian, don't forget that Mystery of the Map Island is free for everyone to play. You'll get a new perspective on the action of the first book, and play a starring role. Visit Poptropica to play now!

Happy Book Birthday to everyone involved with Poptropica: The Lost Expedition! Time to celebrate!